Drinking-cup shield.



R. S. REYNOLDS. DRINKING CUP SHIELD.

APPLICATION man NOV-6. 1914.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

momma SAMUEL REYNOLDS, or BRISTOL, TENNESSEE.

DRINKING-GUI SHIELD.

Specification of Letters Patentr Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

k iplicationflled November 6, 1914. Serial No. 870,684.

van and State of Tennessee,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drinking-Cup Shields; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to kitchen or table articles, and more especially to cups or glasses; and the object of the same is to produce a sanitary shield which may be slipped over the edge of the drinking cup or glass so that the users lips will not come in contact therewith.

This object is carried out the shield in the manner hereinafter described, making it by preference of a rather heavy grade of cardboard, and of such size that it may readily be carried in the pocket 01' pocket-book.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a drinking glass with this shield applied. Fig.2 .is a sec-1 I tional view of a cup with the shield in section and applied thereto. Fig. Bis a plan view of a slightly different configuration of the shield itself. Fig. 4 is a plan view showing how a number of these shields of yet different configuration can be cut from a strip of stock with little or no loss of material.

In the drawings Fig. 1 shows a glass G and Fig. 2 a cup C which we may assume are drinking utensils such as one finds in public places. We have been taught lately by experts that there is so much infection and contamination conveyed by touching the lips to public drinking receptacles, that in many places the public ice coolers are found without glasses and each person taking a drink is supposed to use his individual cup. While it is undoubtedly true that the majority of people fail to carry with them an individual drinking cup for the sole reason that they have neglected so providing themselves, the fact remains that such cups are bulky to carry in the pocket, will become broken, injured or soiled while in the pocket or from long use, and may at times be mislaid or lost by the .most careful person. I have therefore devised a .guard which is preferably made from stout card by constructing board or strawboard stock, oiled or not, and of such size and shape that a number of these devices may be carried in the pocket or pocket-book, or could be stored in an rrnn s'rAT s PATENT OFFICE. i v

envelop andlkept' in the desk or any convenient place; and after one has been used for three. or-v four times it can be thrown away. 1

This article may be employed solely as a precautionary and sanitary expedient for preventing the users lips from coming in contact with the public drinking glass or cup, or it might be made in numbers, stamped with suitable advertising matter, and given away by department stores and others as a useful novelty.

Referring now to Fig. .3, it will be seen that the contour of this device is, substantially-that of a shield as commonly employed in heraldry. The upper edge of its upper portion 1 may be and by preference is.

straight, its body 2 may be about two inches wide and three inches high from said upper edge to its extreme lower end or point, its

lower portion 3 is preferably narrower than its body, its upper portion is a little wider than the body so as to produce two ears 4, and the material of which the device is made is cut'.upward from the angles 5 between the lower ends of the ears and the upright sides of the body, along incisions 6 which may be straight or curved and which preferably converge slightly toward each other as illustrated, thus producing tongues 7 'de pending from the ears 4 as shown.

In Fig. 4 I have shown how, by alternate guards a number of them could be cut from a strip of cardboard or other stock with little or no waste, the cutting of course being done by dies in a manner not necessary to amplify in this specification. This sav ing in the stock results from the fact that the upper portion 1 is made of the same length as the lower portion and as much wider than the body 2 as the lower portion 3 is narrower, so that if every other device be inverted its narrow portion will stand between the wide portions of those on both sides ofvit.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the use of this article is shown. The tongues are bent rearward or backward from the user so that the cuts or incisions 6 open slightly, and they are then passed over the upper edge of the tumbler, glass, or other drlnking utensil and pressed down suificiently far to cause the edges of the incisions to clasp the edge of the utenthe ears to the upper edge. The latter rises above the edge of the utensil as seen, whereas the body 2 lies on the outer face of the utensil; and the lower end of the body, or point if it be employed, lies on the outside of the tumbler as best seen in Fig. 1 only the be restored to the lower ends of the tongues at the extreme side edges of the attachment pass into the glass or cup at all, holding the device inplace by their spring action. If they should become Wet with the liquid in the act of drinking, no harm is occasioned and nothing is spilled. The user then gras s said utensil with his fingers and thum preferably laying the thumb over the body 2 of the shield, and raises it to his mouth, placing his lips over the upperedge and tippingthe utensil so that the liquid therein shield and into the mouth.

After drinking, the guard or shield may users pocket, especially if it be made of paper which has been oiled so that it may be used several times without injury; or if it be an advertising novelty and of rather thin stock, it will be thrown away after using once or twice.

will run. out of it and over the'upper edge of the What is claimed as new is: The herein described shield for use'on drinking utensils, the same made from a single blank of heavy cardboard cut into substantially the-shape of a shield and comprising upper and lower portions and a body portlon between them, the upper portion being of the same length as the lower portion and as much wider than the body as the lower portion is narrower whereby a number of these devices may be cut from a strip of .material with little waste by disposing alternate shields in inverted position, the projecting ends of the upper portion producing ears whose lower edges stand at angles to the sides of the body and the shield being provided with incisions extending from such angles obliquely upward and inward toward each other and roducing depending tongues at the sides of the device, for use substantially as hereinbefore described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD SAMUEL REYNOLDS.

Witnesses:

M. V. BURKE, H. Doeen'rr. 

